Not Safe After Dark
Read Not Safe After Dark Online
Authors: Peter Robinson
Critical acclaim for Peter Robinson and the Inspector Banks series
STRANGE AFFAIR
‘An enjoyable mystery’
Sunday Telegraph
‘Mr Robinson stocks [
Strange Affair
] with chapter-ending cliff-hangers . . . an addictive crime-novel series’
New York Times
‘The gripping story . . . shows Robinson getting more adept at juggling complex plot lines while retaining his excellent skills at characterization.
The result is deeply absorbing, and the nuances of Banks’s character are increasingly compelling’
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)
‘Peter Robinson is a mystery writer’s mystery writer . . . I can’t imagine a more flawless police procedural than
Strange
Affair
’
Globe & Mail,
Canada
PLAYING WITH FIRE
‘A shotgun blast of northern realism . . . Robinson brings a welcome injection of reality to police investigation in his fictional Yorkshire, if not
the genre. God’s Own County tastes all the better with a dash of Canadian bitters’
Independent
‘An engaging pleasure . . . Virtually every character is etched with care, precision and emotional insight. With each book, the quietly competent
Alan Banks gets more and more human; like red wine, he gets better and more interesting with age’
Publishers Weekly
‘A good, solid, satisfactory police story with a host of well-depicted minor characters and an intriguing protagonist’
Evening Standard
‘Peter Robinson gets better and better’
Publishing News
THE SUMMER THAT NEVER WAS
‘Robinson’s Inspector Banks novels have built up a rising reputation as one of the most authentic and atmospheric of crime series.
The
Summer that Never Was
engrossingly confronts its fine mind with foul acts. Procedural details aside, Banks can make Morse look almost philistine . . . Any reader who still misses Morse should
promptly resolve to go north with Banks’
Independent
‘As a crime writer, Robinson is not as granite-hard as Ian Rankin, and this is reflected in the crisp yet empathetic narration. Banks is genuinely
human, rather than a hard man’
Observer
‘As he ascends the international ranks of mystery writers, Robinson quietly and methodically stretches the boundaries of crime fiction, to the point
where critics now routinely compare him with P. D. James . . . Robinson handles his story and his characters with all the respectful skill of a fine cabinetmaker’
National Post
AFTERMATH
‘It demonstrates how the crime novel, when done right, can reach parts that other books can’t . . . A considerable achievement’
Guardian
‘With
Aftermath
, Peter Robinson emerges as a definite contender for fiction’s new top cop’
Independent on Sunday
‘A guaranteed page-turner’
Mirror
COLD IS THE GRAVE
‘Absorbing’
Scotsman
‘Exhilarating’
Toronto Star
IN A DRY SEASON
‘A powerfully moving work’
IAN RANKIN
‘A wonderful novel’
MICHAEL CONNOLLY
DEAD RIGHT
‘Every page here is readable and compelling’
Washington Times
INNOCENT GRAVES
‘Atmospheric’
Time Out
DRY BONES THAT DREAM
‘Highly entertaining’
Scotland on Sunday
WEDNESDAY’S CHILD
‘A dark, unsettling story . . . Impressive’
New York Times
PAST REASON HATED
‘The characterizations are unfailingly sharp and subtle’
New York Times
THE HANGING VALLEY
‘Highly recommended’
Kirkus Review
A NECESSARY END
‘Another superior mystery’
Publishers Weekly
A DEDICATED MAN
‘A deftly constructed plot . . . Robinson’s skill with the British police procedural has been burnished to a high gloss’
Chicago Tribune
GALLOWS VIEW
‘Peter Robinson is an expert plotter with an eye for telling detail’
New York Times
‘An impressive debut’
Publishers Weekly
Peter Robinson grew up in Yorkshire, and now lives in Canada.
Not Safe After Dark
and
Other Works
is Peter’s first collection of short stories to be published in the UK. It includes ‘Innocence’, winner of the Crime Writers
of Canada’s Best Short Story Award.
His Inspector Banks series has won numerous awards in Britain, Europe, the United States and Canada. There are now fifteen novels published by Pan Macmillan in the series.
Aftermath
, the
twelfth, was a
Sunday Times
bestseller.
The Inspector Banks series
GALLOWS VIEW
A DEDICATED MAN
A NECESSARY END
THE HANGING VALLEY
PAST REASON HATED
WEDNESDAY’S CHILD
DRY BONES THAT DREAM
INNOCENT GRAVES
DEAD RIGHT
IN A DRY SEASON
COLD IS THE GRAVE
AFTERMATH
THE SUMMER THAT NEVER WAS
PLAYING WITH FIRE
STRANGE AFFAIR
Also by Peter Robinson
CAEDMON’S SONG
ROBINSON
NOT SAFE AFTER DARK
AND OTHER WORKS
PAN BOOKS
First published 2004 by Macmillan
This electronic edition published 2009 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan Ltd
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Rd, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-0-330-51444-6 in Adobe Reader format
ISBN 978-0-330-51443-9 in Adobe Digital Editions format
ISBN 978-0-330-51445-3 in Mobipocket format
Copyright © Peter Robinson 2004
The right of Peter Robinson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital,
optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be
liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Visit
www.panmacmillan.com
to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author interviews and news of any author events, and you can
sign up for e-newsletters so that you’re always first to hear about our new releases.
For Sheila
ANNA SAID
— AN INSPECTOR BANKS STORY
THE GOOD PARTNER
— AN INSPECTOR BANKS STORY
THE TWO LADIES OF ROSE COTTAGE
GOING BACK
— AN INSPECTOR BANKS NOVELLA
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Individual stories first published in different form as: ‘Summer Rain’ ©
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
, New York, December 1994. An Inspector Banks
story; ‘Fan Mail’ ©
Cold Blood II
, ed. Peter Sellers (Mosaic Press: Oakville, Canada, 1989); ‘Innocence’ ©
Cold Blood III
, ed. Peter Sellers (Mosaic
Press: Oakville, Canada, 1990); ‘Murder in Utopia’ ©
Crime Through Time III
, ed. Sharan Newman (Berkeley, New York, July 2000); ‘Not Safe After Dark’ ©
Criminal Shorts
, ed. Howard Engel and Eric Wright (Macmillan: Toronto, Canada, 1992); ‘Just My Luck’ ©
Bouchercon XXII Souvenir Programme Book
, Toronto, 1992;
‘Anna Said. . .’ ©
Cold Blood IV
, ed. Peter Sellers (Mosaic Press: Oakville, Canada, 1992). An Inspector Banks story; ‘Missing in Action’ ©
Ellery
Queen's Mystery Magazine
, New York, November 2000; ‘Memory Lane’ ©
Blue Lightning
, ed. John Harvey, Slow Dancer Press (UK), 1998; ‘Carrion’ ©
No
Alibi
, ed. Maxim Jakubowski (Ringpull: Manchester, 1995); ‘April in Paris’ ©
Love and Death
, ed. Carolyn Hart (Berkeley, New York), February 2001; ‘The Good
Partner’ ©
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
, New York, March 1994. An Inspector Banks story; ‘Some Land in Florida’ ©
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
, New
York, Christmas issue, 1996; ‘The Wrong Hands’ ©
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
, New York, April 1998; ‘The Two Ladies of Rose Cottage’ ©
Malice
Domestic 6
, ed. Anne Perry (New York: Pocket Books, 1997); ‘Lawn Sale’ ©
Cold Blood V
, ed. Peter Sellers and John North (Mosaic Press: Oakville, Canada, 1994);
‘Gone to the Dawgs’ ©
The Mighty Johns
, ed. Otto Penzler (New Millennium Press, Beverly Hills, CA), summer 2002; ‘In Flanders Fields’ © 1998, first
published in
Not Safe After Dark and Other Stories
, by Peter Robinson, Crippen & Landru (Virginia), October 1998; ‘The Duke’s Wife’ ©
Much Ado About Murder
,
ed. Anne Perry (Berkeley, New York, December 2002).
‘Going Back’ first published 2004; © Eastvale Enterprise Inc.
I remember once talking to a famous crime writer about getting a short story out of my home being burgled, and she replied, ‘I get a short story out of everything.’
That certainly put me in my place. It also serves as a useful opening to this introduction because some writers I know find that short stories come easily, whereas I don’t.
I think this is partly because I have become so used to thinking in terms of the novel, with the broad canvas it offers, that it’s hard to work in miniature. I carry a novel around in my
head for a long time – at least a year, waking and sleeping – and this gives me time to get under the skin of the characters
and
the story. Also, plotting is probably the most
difficult part of writing for me, and being asked to write a short story, which so often depends on a plot twist, a clever diversion or a surprising revelation, guarantees that I’ll get the
laundry done and probably the ironing, too.
That said, there is nevertheless a great deal of satisfaction to be had from writing short stories. Partly, of course, it’s the quick pay-off. A short story is, by definition,
short
. Consequently, you get that wonderful rush of having
finished
something far more quickly than you do with a novel.
